In what is one of the most revealing interviews in the last 10 years, Justin goes into a fair bit of depth into the progress and process behind the new Tool album. Jon D’Auria from Bass Player speaks at length with Justin Chancellor on what is a insightful read.

While he didn’t want to be drawn into speculation as to when the album will be ready (based in my interpretation we certainly shouldn’t be expecting anything for a while yet) he does go into what and how they write, what some of the set backs have been and how he feels about the expectations of a ravenously loyal fan base:

How sick are you of people asking when it’s going to be done?

It’s understandable, and it’s a compliment that people are excited to hear it. But it’s difficult to hear that and not feel some kind of guilt. All I can say is that we’ll go back Monday and do our best to finish it for you, although that’s not really how it works. But we know the listeners will be happy with it when it’s finished.

How do you, Adam, and Danny typically write together?

Adam and I usually have the source material we’ve come up with together here. We’re playing pretty much nonstop right now, so a lot of ideas are coming out. Often, Danny and I will be playing something and Adam will rush into the room and tell us to record it, and then we’ll spend the rest of the day working on it to see if it’s worthwhile. And of course we have a whole treasure chest of ideas on our phones that we record on our own. Basically, Adam and I have riffs and Danny has rhythms or different time-signature beats, and we try to keep them basic before bringing them in to see what the other members will do with them. We establish a riff so we and the listener can identify it, and then we say, Okay, now how far away from it can we go on this journey?

Well worth the read, so check it out when you have the chance!

Justin Chancellor from Tool speaks to Bass Player about the next Tool album

In the case of most bands I’d agree – early is when the band is still songwriting. Given that Tool seem to take forever with the song writing part (compared to the recording part at least, which they usually do somewhat efficiently) you could probably argue that they are mid-way through the process.

Anyway, despite all that, I don’t think many are getting too excited about a 2017 release.

I often see people say that Tool could never release something disappointing, but I like to think that even Tool could release something that I don’t like. And Tool is the only band I’ve ever heard that I like every single song by.

Good interview. I’m not one to tell Tool how to do their thing but at some point your first instincts are best, when a song is being written. I just wonder if they aren’t strangling this thing to death.

Still got a good vibe from Justin and I know they are trying to come up with a masterpiece and final album at this point. I wish them luck.

Look at the rig and the studio in the photos. It’s obvious that the Justin and Adam probably spend a good 120 days per song playing the same riff with thousands of different effect/treatment/mic/mix combinations. Too many toys… overthinking, over-analyzing separates the body from the mind…er, I mean, separates the band from releasing shit.

In terms of the actual style of writing, the technique of playing, and the style of playing (drop D riffs, shifting time signatures, constant loud/quiet dynamics, Justin playing high bass notes while Adam palm mutes etc) will not change one bit. This interview also makes that obvious because Chancellor outright says it.

Last addendum: the band is formulaic, but I have no problem with that. Like he says in the interview when speaking about a player’s voice — the style that makes each of the players in Tool distinguishable is the result. Other than a talk box solo on Jambi, was there anything on 10k Days we hadn’t heard some permutation of before really? This again is fine, but it does make it bizarre that the band takes so long between releases.

Disclaimer: this comment is not a direct reply, but more a general reaction to this key choice of words.

“…the band takes so long between releases.”

I read this a lot and I don’t get it. How have the gaps between other previous albums set any sort of precedent where 10+ years and counting is practically expected? It’s not even limited to fans online; Interviewers do it all the time. Considering the real “meat” of the writing for any of the other albums at most lasted ~12-18 months… Where does 7+ years of writing fit into the norm? It’s clearly an anomaly. Tool’s precedent is that they write FASTER than this.

It’s not expected, but 5 years was (Aenima – Lateralus = 5 years, Lateralus – 10k Days = 5 years) which is still a bizarrely long time for a functioning group to record an album that’s 1/2 segues anyway.

On your point elusivEuphoria, you’re absolutely right about there being no precedent for THIS long of a process. At this point the new Tool album is on par with a reunion album, considering bands have broken up, reformed, and recorded misconceived albums in less time.

This is why I hope Justin is writing more than on past albums. You can never tell for sure who wrote what, but I think we all have a good idea of a typical Adam riff. And I’m personally hoping for a little less chugging drop d.

They’re definitely trying too hard and over thinking it. And that is never good. Unless, hopefully, it’s because Adam is growing as a player/writer.